‘He Felt Like Home to Me, and I Felt Complete With Him, so I Said Yes’
A note from the author: On February 2, 2026, my little sister, Jayce Holloway-Maxwell, passed away unexpectedly. Never in a million years did I imagine she would not be here to read her love story, written by her big sister. In hindsight, I am incredibly grateful that I was able to immortalize the story of Jayce and Joe, one of the truest, purest loves I have ever had the pleasure of watching grow and evolve. Rest in peace, my dear little sister. We love you and miss you tremendously. Love, Je’Don.
BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times
JAYCE & D JOE MAXWELL
Live: Pelham
Married: October 25, 2019
Met: November 30, 2016, at Moe’s Southwestern Grill, in Hoover. Jayce, then 17, was one of the restaurant managers when Joe, then 19, came aboard.
Joe remembered that “Jayce was in the back giving out orders because she was getting [the staff] ready for shift change, she sounded real bossy, he recalled, but I was intrigued. I liked her voice, and I could hear her accent, so I wondered where she was from… I started picturing how I thought she would look, and she was the complete opposite,” Joe laughed. “She talked real proper; she kind of sounded like a valley girl with some hood in her, and she was talking to everybody like she was somebody’s auntie. When she came around the corner, I saw her, and I was more intrigued because she was short, thick, and brown-skinned like I like them. I’m a country boy, so I like them cornbread and collard green fed. She was very direct, and she didn’t take any mess. And I liked it.”
Jayce recalled that her God sister, Nesha Griffin (who also worked there), had been telling her about Joe because when he started, she was in California visiting. I knew there was a new group of guys onboarding while I was gone, but I didn’t expect to run into the guy she was talking about on my first day back. I knew who he was immediately because he looked just like she described him. Light-skinned dudes weren’t my type, and he had the little ugly starter locs too, which really wasn’t my thing,” Jayce laughed. “But he was cute, even with the ugly little starter locs, and I said, well, I might just give him a try.”
Jayce left for the day, but Nesha, who had come on for the same shift as Joe, played cupid and sent them each other’s phone numbers, and they began texting throughout Joe’s shift and eventually decided to hang out that evening.
First date: Applebee’s in Hoover, on Valentine’s Day 2017. “We hung out a lot and were seeing each other at work every day, and he said, ‘ For Valentine’s Day, I want to take you on a date, and that was my first real date,” said Jayce. “And even though [I was comfortable with him], the fact that it was a real date made me nervous.”
“At that time, we were in a situationship because I was lowkey trying [to keep my options open] Joe said, I was a country boy living in the city for the first time, and there was always a lot of girls hanging around the dorm, but I didn’t want to do her wrong because she was different and special to me. She was only 17 and was running that restaurant better than the GM. She was really responsible, and I knew she was going to be my wife, and I didn’t want to mess it up,” Joe said. “So, when Valentine’s Day came around, I wanted to treat her special.”
Jayce and Joe recall having a good time and discussing how seriously he wanted to take their relationship. That night, she made him choose, “because you ain’t gonna have your cake and eat it too; not with me,” said Jayce.
The turn: That night on the date, Joe stepped up to the plate. “I said, ‘Baby, I know I haven’t been [100 percent in], but you are the one for me, and I love you. I know you’re going to be my wife; you make me a better man and want to do right. I want you to give me a chance to show you the man I know I can be.’”
Shortly after, the two set out to build a life together and found an apartment.
“Those first months in that apartment were the hardest months of our lives,” Jayce said. “We used to fall asleep cuddling and crying about how we were going to pay all the bills… We were both working two and three jobs. I was still in high school, but I got out at 11 am, so I got a second job… it was harder than we thought it was going to be, but we brought each other love and comfort we had never had before.”
The proposal: October 27, 2017, on Jayce’s 18th birthday, at Railroad Park. “We used to go out there and take walks all the time… and I had bought a little ring, it wasn’t much, but it was what I could afford, and in front of the little pond I got down on one knee and proposed. I told her that she is the love of my life, and this has been the hardest and best year of my life. I said I know we’re struggling now, but if you stick with me, I’m going to put you in the first house you ever lived in (which I did), and I asked her to marry me,” Joe said.
“He felt like home to me, and I felt complete with him, so I said yes,” Jayce said.
The couple kept their engagement and plans to marry a secret. Neither told their families until it was done.
The wedding: Downtown Birmingham at the Jefferson County Courthouse, officiated by their paperwork, as they were no longer performing ceremonies, and was witnessed by their matchmaker, Jayce’s God sister, Nesha Griffin. “We had on our work uniforms,” Jayce said with a laugh. “By this time, I had graduated from high school, and we were working [in property management]. I was a leasing agent, and he was a maintenance man, but we were at two different properties… and we left on our lunch breaks and went and did it,” said Jayce.
For the bride, the most memorable moment was being upset with her groom. “The crazy thing is, we were arguing that day because he was taking too long on a work order he was trying to get finished, and he was late to the courthouse. I was mad because I was there waiting, and then we were disappointed that they stopped doing the vow exchange, so it didn’t feel like we really got married; all we did was sign papers… We went back to work, and that night when we got home, we thought about all the [challenges we overcame], and it was like we fell in love all over again,” Jayce said.
For the groom, the most memorable part was breaking the news to everyone. “Jayce’s uncle Randy [who died of pancreatic cancer in 2022] was like her daddy, and he was sad he didn’t get to walk her down the aisle, but there wasn’t any aisle to walk her down,” Joe said, laughing. “He took us to the Perfect Note to celebrate. Her Auntie Linda was in town, and she took us out also, and her mama was happy, and folks were sad they weren’t there… but everybody was happy for us.”
Words of wisdom: “Keep God at the forefront because we do a whole lot of praying. When we get into situations that we can’t see through, we get on our knees, and we go to church, and in some kind of way, God helps us meet each other in the middle,” said Jayce. “We keep the spark alive by dating and making intimacy a priority. That connection is real and needed to keep each other grounded in the [partnership].”
“If you’re going to seek advice, only seek advice from couples who have been married for 10 plus years,” Joe said. “Always plan together about your finances. Both of you have to be on the same page about your credit, spending, and your plans because one person’s decisions can bring the whole ship down. We knew we wanted to buy a house. I wanted to be the one to put her in her first house because she grew up in apartments, so that was important to me… Be open to growth because nobody stays the same, don’t look at your partner for who they were in the past, look at them for who they are now.”
Happily, ever after: The Maxwells attend End Times International Center in Mulga, Alabama, and look forward to finishing their goals and starting a family.
Jayce, 26, is an Inglewood, California native and relocated to Hoover, Alabama with her family as a small child. She is a Hoover High School graduate and obtained her Real Estate License from Mark Yarborough School of Real Estate in Vestavia Hills and is currently pursuing an associate’s degree in business management at Lawson State Community College, with plans to transfer to UAB to obtain a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Jayce works as a property manager for Asset Living in Birmingham.
Joe, 28, is an Evergreen, Alabama, native, a Greenville High School graduate [Greenville, Alabama], and moved to Birmingham in 2016 to attend Alabama Prep Birmingham [a football prep program], on a football scholarship. Joe is currently pursuing his homebuilder’s license at Lawson State Community College and works as an apartment community maintenance supervisor for Daniel Corporation in Birmingham.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to editor@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
